Review Summary

TLC dog food is a Canadian dog food company different from your traditional pet foods. They offer four grain-inclusive recipes: one adult recipe, one puppy recipe, one cat recipe, and one dog biscuit recipe.

They certainly lack options, but their recipes don’t lack nutrition.

TLC recipes contain excellent ingredients with meat meals, fresh meat, salmon oil, several grain options, chicken liver, and chelated minerals. All of these combine to make delicious recipes.

The only catch is you have to order exclusively through TLC’s website. We had trouble finding good resources for reviews, so we can’t say much about their customer service. But their nutrition and ingredient labels show us that it’s a brand worth trying.

At a Glance: The Best TLC Dog Food Recipes

TLC Dog Food Reviewed

Who Makes TLC Dog Food, and Where Is It Produced?

TLC pet foods are manufactured in Canada in New Hamburg, Ontario. However, they have an American location in Tonawanda, New York. TLC sources its ingredients from North America, New Zealand, and Norway.

Which Type of Dog is TLC Best Suited For?

Unless your dog has a medical ailment requiring a special diet, any age of dog may eat this food. TLC offers a specialized puppy formula and includes glucosamine and chondroitin in their adult dog food. They may not have a variety of flavors or specialty formulas, but they make up for this with their nutrient-dense food catering to all life stages.

Which Type of Dog Might Do Better With a Different Brand?

We recommend trying Blue Buffalo if you don’t think your dog will do well on TLC dog food, if they need a more specific recipe than what TLC offers, or if you need something more readily available. Blue Buffalo has similar recipes with just as much nutrition and several specialized formulas and flavors. They’re about the same price, too.

Discussion of the Primary Ingredients (Good and Bad)

Overall, we’re pretty pleased with TLC’s ingredients and overall quality. Our only issue with the food is that it contains a lot of meat meal and not much fresh meat. Meat meal isn’t an issue, but we’d expect fresher protein for the bag’s price.

All of the recipes are similar, with a few minor differences. Most of them include:

All these ingredients are excellent, making TLC an above-average dry dog food. Let’s look at some other factors as to why this is.

High-Protein, High-Fat, Low-Fiber

All of their recipes are high-protein, high-fat, and low-fiber compared to the average of other dry dog foods. Most of the protein comes from meat, even with a high level of grain and peas. Depending on your dog’s dietary needs, these factors can be good or bad.

High-Calorie

On average, dry dog food has around 325 to 350 calories per cup. TLC’s food contains about 445 kcal/cup, much higher than the average. You’ll need to watch your dog’s activity level and make adjustments, so your dog doesn’t gain a few extra pounds on this food.

Protein Quality

The protein quality in pet food matters. In our opinion, it’s one of the first things to look for. With TLC, most of the protein is meat-based, stemming from meat meals like lamb, chicken, and salmon. Meat meal is a highly concentrated end version of meat. It’s cheap and keeps the protein levels high.

You’ll also find chicken liver in this food, an excellent source of natural and highly digestible nutrition. We’re always fans of pet food containing organ meat for this reason.

Vitamins and Minerals

We love that TLC’s food contains chelated minerals. Chelated minerals are bound to chelating agents or organic compounds such as amino acids, making the minerals easier to absorb. So overall, your dog is getting a nutritious diet with highly digestible vitamins and minerals.

Prebiotics and Probiotics

The gut is considered the second brain, so it’s essential to take care of it, including our dog’s gut. Prebiotics and probiotics manage the gut’s microbiome and keep everything running smoothly. This ultimately affects the body’s overall health and immunity. TLC has a variety of prebiotics and probiotics, which is a very good sign.

Customer Service

TLC is different from other pet food companies, so it’s worth mentioning how they run their business. TLC offers their pet food exclusively on their website. You can’t order it anywhere else. On the positive side, you can save money by signing up for a convenient subscription. Even better, TLC offers a great range of timing options so you can receive exactly the amount of food you need when you need it. TLC also offers free shipping, which is always nice.

A Quick Look at TLC Dog Food

Recall History

At this time, the FDA doesn’t note any recalls regarding TLC dog food.

Reviews of the 3 Best TLC Dog Food Recipes

1. TLC Whole Life Dog Food

TLC’s dog food is good for dogs of all ages, including seniors. They only carry one recipe containing several protein options, delicious herbs, and vegetables. The first two ingredients are meat-based (lamb meal and chicken meal), followed by oatmeal, fresh chicken, and whole-grain barley.

We like that your dog can get the same amount of DHA in this adult recipe available in the puppy formula. This recipe has a protein content of 26%, much higher than lower-quality pet foods. It also has a fat content of 16% and a fiber content of 4%. This recipe has more grain than meat, though. But at least your dog will stay full longer.

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2. TLC Whole Life Puppy Food

Not all small pet food brands have puppy food, so it’s nice that TLC created a formula just for the little guys. In this recipe, the first three ingredients are meat-based (lamb meal, chicken meal, fresh chicken) followed by whole brown rice and chicken fat.

This formula has a higher protein-to-carbohydrate ratio than the adult dog food. In fact, there’s more protein, fat, and fiber in this recipe total, which is exactly what puppies need. If your puppy likes this food, it will be a nice transition to adult dog food.

TLC markets this puppy food as good for all breed sizes. However, large and small breeds need slightly different nutrition since large breeds grow much bigger. So, we question if this formula is suitable for large breeds.

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3. TLC Whole Life Dog Biscuits

TLC’s Whole Life dog biscuits are delicious, healthy, and crunchy. These biscuits are primarily whole wheat, followed by fresh chicken, whole egg, whole brown rice, and canola oil. These treats even contain glucosamine and chondroitin for hip and joint health. We also love that there are fresh vegetables in these treats. Not many dog treats have veggies.

We don’t like that these treats are pricey. Dog biscuits are usually cheap dog treats. Then again, they don’t typically contain this many healthy ingredients!

What Other Users Are Saying

Since you can’t order TLC from anywhere other than their website, finding reviews on trusted websites proved challenging. You can’t even find a review on their website. Instead, we looked for reviews on trusted dog food review websites to see what people say. We could only find one at this time.

Conclusion

Yes, TLC lacks options, but their recipes are packed with nutrition. We like that they offer a puppy recipe. You can easily transition your puppy to the adult version when it’s ready. We also love that TLC includes glucosamine and chondroitin in their adult food and biscuits, making it a great brand for senior dogs.

Although some customers report great customer service, we simply don’t have enough evidence to confirm that. But overall, the ingredients make us happy enough to give two paws up!

• See also: Black Gold Explorer Dog Food Review: Recalls, Pros & Cons